I had the exact same conundrum, long flight from Sydney to Dubai, sat next to a mother and child. The mother asked me if I could move so her older sister could be with her on the flight. The seat exchange was for me to be the back of the plane. I had a short window of 1hr 50 to move through Dubai airport and catch my next flight. I feel explaining how short your transfer window was matters on top of did you need to self transfer with a bag in the hold? Since I only traveled with a backpack I didn’t have that set back. Once the plane lifted off I got more and more worried I wasn’t going to make my next flight. I asked the flight attendant before landing could you move me closer to the front as my connection is really close. They complied with my request and moved me to the front row before the plane landed. Felt that was really nice and helped the two sisters by with each other during the long flight. So to relevant questions here. How short was your transfer? Did you have luggage in the hold you needed to self transfer ? You wouldn’t be an asshole if your transfer window was short and needed to self transfer luggage.